GOVERNMENT OF MINISTRY OF MINES

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1132 TO BE ANSWERED ON 2ND MARCH 2015

ILLEGAL MINING

1132. SHRI BAHADUR SINGH KOLI: SHRI BHANU PRATAP SINGH VERMA: SHRI FEROZE VARUN GANDHI: SHRI ABHIJIT MUKHERJEE: SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS: SHRI RAYAPATI SAMBASIVA RAO: SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY: SHRI P.K. BIJU: SHRI KALIKESH N. SINGH DEO: SHRI P.R. SUNDARAM: SHRI P.R. SENTHILNATHAN: SHRI : DR. C. GOPALAKRISHNAN: SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:

Will the Minister of MINES be pleased to state:

(a) the details of the cases of illegal mining operations reported from various parts of the country during each of the last three years and the current year, State/UT wise; (b) the estimated amount of revenue loss incurred to the Government on account of such illegal mining; (c) whether the Government has constituted a Commission to investigate the reported illegal mining in the country; (d) if so, the details and outcome thereof including the punitive action taken against the guilty person; and (e) the steps taken by the Government to control the large scale illegal mining including in forest areas of the country?

ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR STEEL AND MINES (SHRI VISHNU DEO SAI)

(a) and (b): State Governments are empowered, under Section 23C of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 to make rules for prevention of illegal mining, transportation and storage of minerals. As State Governments deal with illegal mining, details regarding the revenue loss incurred are not maintained centrally in the Ministry.

However, based on the quarterly returns on illegal mining submitted by various State Governments to Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM) (a subordinate office under the Ministry of Mines), state-wise details of instances of illegal mining reported in various parts of the country for last three years along with the details of realization of fines is given in ANNEXURE.

(c) and (d): The Government constituted the Justice M B Shah Commission of Inquiry on 22.11.2010 to inquire into the large scale illegal mining of iron and manganese ores in the country. The tenure of the Commission ended on 16.10.2013. The reports submitted by the Commission alongwith the ‘Memorandum of Action Taken’ thereon have been placed in the Parliament.

(e): The Central Government in co-ordination with State Governments has taken the following steps to curb and check illegal mining in the Country:

(i) Regular monitoring of framing of rules by the State Governments to control illegal mining as per Section 23C of MMDR Act (so far 20 States have framed the rules under section 23C of MMDR Act, 1957 to curb illegal mining); (ii) Regular monitoring of setting up of Task Forces at State and District level to control illegal mining since the year 2005 (so far 23 States have reported to have constituted the Task Forces); (iii) Regular monitoring of setting up State Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee (SCEC) to coordinate efforts to control illegal mining by including representatives of Railways, Customs and Port authorities (13 State Governments have set up a Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee); (iv) Regular follow up with State Governments to adopt an Action Plan with specific measures to detect and control illegal mining including, use of remote sensing, control on traffic, gather market intelligence, registration of end-users and setting up of special cells etc; (v) A Central Coordination-cum-Empowered Committee set up under the Chairmanship of Secretary (Mines) on 4.3.2009 and reconstituted on 20.10.2011 holds quarterly meetings to consider all mining related issues, including matters relating to coordination of activities to combat illegal mining; (vi) Ministry of Railways have instituted a mechanism on 16.4.2010 to allow transportation of iron ore only against permits issued rake-wise and verified by State Government, apart from taking measures to fence and set up check post at the railway sidings; (vii) Department of Revenue (Customs) has issued instructions to all its field units to share information on iron ore exports with the State Governments; (viii) Ministry of Shipping has directed all major Ports in the country to streamline the verification procedures for movement of iron ore, and to check whether royalty has been paid for the consignment; (ix) Government has notified amendment in Rule 45 of Mineral Conservation and Development Rules, 1988, on 9.2.2011 making it mandatory for all miners, traders, stockists, exporters and end-users to register with IBM and report their transaction in minerals on monthly basis for a proper end-to-end accounting of minerals; and (x) Indian Bureau Mines has constituted Special Task Forces for inspection of mines in endemic areas by taking the help of Satellite imageries.

The Ministry has amended the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 through the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance, 2015 promulgated on 12th January, 2015. In order to act as a strong deterrent to illegal mining, the amendment Ordinance has enhanced the punitive provision of punishment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years and with fine which may extend to five lakh rupees per hectare of the area for the offence of illegal mining. The amendment Ordinance also has a provision to enable State Governments to set up special courts for trial of offences relating to illegal mining, if felt necessary. ***

ANNEXURE MENTIONED IN THE REPLY TO UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1132 FOR REPLY ON 02.03.2015 ASKED BY SHRI BAHADUR SINGH KOLI AND OTHERS

Statement showing Year wise State wise Cases of Illegal Mining for Major & Minor Minerals (combined)

Action taken from 2011-12 to 2014-15 (Quarter ending Illegal mining cases June 2014)

2014 – Court Fine realized 15 Vehicle Sr. 2013 – FIR Lodged Cases by State 2011-12 2012-13 ( Quarter Seized No 14 (Nos.) Filed State Govt. ending (No.) (Nos.) (Rs. Lakh) June 14)

Andaman 1 3 0 n.r. n. r. 0 0 0 0.05 & Nicobar Andhra 2 19913 16592 7692 2786 2 1 2 7093.629 Pradesh 3 Assam 0 0 0 n. r. 0 0 0 0 Chhattisgar 4 2946 3238 3996 1332 89 10104 0 1497.323 h 5 Goa 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 Gujarat 3485 6023 5447 n. r. 224 23 6925 40349.76 7 Haryana 2022 3517 3589 n. r. 387 0 0 1584.09 Himachal 8 1289 0 n.r. n. r. 186 186 0 38.52 Pradesh 9 Jharkhand 364 663 901 n. r. 1003 4 650 229.02 10 Karnataka 6691 6677 8509 1993 418 469 10283 6075.81 11 Kerala 3175 4550 4448 1153 0 0 0 1723.92 Madhya 12 7147 7169 6725 1728 61 22497 528 11421.31 Pradesh Maharashtr 13 40642 42918 36476 0 0 0 104011 13865.13 a 14 Mizoram 2 16 21 n. r. 0 0 0 1.291 15 Odisha 309 314 76 n. r. 8 8 519 443.02 16 Punjab 314 19 n.r. n. r. 74 0 61 45.80 17 1201 2861 2953 889 1992 71 1492 3388.938 18 Tamilnadu 123 295 1078 17 3710 1 32485 9243.408 Uttar 19 4708 3266 6777 3111 0 0 0 5360.63 Pradesh West 20 269 479 n.r. n. r. 929 93 815 0 Bengal Grand Total 94604 98597 88689 13009 9083 33457 157771 102361.649